The Sedona City Council was given yet another update on the projects that are part of the ongoing $35 million Sedona in Motion master plan. According to city staff, so far, so good. 

The presentation and discussion came during the Tuesday, Feb. 11, council meeting in which many of the projects that were updated have been discussed in the past with the exception of one — gateway signs. 

As part of the wayfinding sign effort, staff included redesign of the three gateway signs into Sedona: One on State Route 179 and the others on State Route 89A, one as drivers exit Oak Creek Canyon into Uptown, the second as drivers enter West Sedona near Sedona Red Rock High School. 

Communications Manager Lauren Browne said with initial concepts developed by the consultant, staff took these concepts to the public to get feedback since the gateway signs are so prominent and should mirror the char­acter and natural beauty that sets Sedona apart. Staff also met with artists to get their take on the initial concepts. 

The common themes from the survey and meet­ings with artists included: 

• Use natural elements like rock and stone. 
• Use natural colors, especially red. 
• People who filled out the survey liked the tagline on the sign to focus on dark skies, but some also wanted to feature things like the arts or beauty. 
• The design should be charming, artistic and specific to Sedona. 

Exact placement and scale will need to be refined now that a preferred design has been picked, Browne said. During the presentation, council unanimously chose one of five sign designs presented to them. In addition, the slogan “International Dark- Sky Community” was suggested by the commu­nity group. Council wasn’t completely sold and directed staff to come up with alternatives. But stating that the city was established in 1902 was liked by the entire council. 

Browne said there are no immediate plans to replace the existing signs with the new designs, but rather staff is trying to finalize the entire wayfinding package, which would include these sign designs, before moving forward with the next phases of implementation. 

City Engineer Andy Dickey and Engineering Supervisor Stephen Craver updated council was on other aspects of the SIM project: 

Uptown Roadway Improvements 

Construction is currently approximately 60% complete, a city report states. To date, the contractor has completed the construction of the Jordan roundabout, improvements to the northeast corner of Forest Road, improvements on the west side of State Route 89A including a dry-stacked rock wall in front of Clear Creek Trading Company, grading for the Schnebly Road connection, placement of median curb adjacent to the northbound lane, and is nearly complete with concrete work at the northern roundabout. 

“We’re pretty much on schedule,” Craver said. “We’ve had some delays in certain pieces of the project that haven’t quite progressed as we had originally anticipated. We definitely do still think that we’ll be finishing this fiscal year [in Uptown]. One of the milestones we’ve been aiming for is to have the most disruptive work completed prior to spring break. We’re trying hard to hit that goal.” 

Current work hours are 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The contractor is taking advantage of the slow January and February and working Fridays in an attempt to have all concrete work complete before the weeks of spring break, which begin in March and continue through April. Paving of the northern roundabout, Jordan roundabout, Apple Avenue and other miscel­laneous areas will take place this month, It is likely that this paving will be done at night. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of June. 

The art for the two roundabouts is under fabrication and the contractor is coordinating with the artist to ensure that logistics of installa­tion are accounted for. 

Forest Road connector 

A design contract with Kimley-Horn was approved in October by council. It is working on refining the alignment, and the city is holding individual meetings with adjacent property owners. 

Pedestrian Crossing at Tlaquepaque 

The city held a design kick-off meeting and completed field survey and data collection. Meetings with adjacent property owners were held in January. The design is approximately 60% complete and is antici­pated to be complete by the end of June. 

Parking Garage 

The parking garage siting study was presented to council in November. Staff is working with the consultant to refine some of the design concepts, surface lot options and estimates. This infor­mation will be brought back to council at the Wednesday, Feb. 26, work session. 

‘Y’ Slip Lanes 

The Arizona Department of Transportation will be designing this project with in-house staff, Craver said. 

The design team has been focused on vetting concepts in an attempt to minimize parking and access impacts to adjacent properties. 

The concept includes a slip lane for north­bound State Route 89A to southbound State Route 179 through the property owned by ADOT. It also includes modifying the turning movements for northbound State Route 179 on the approach to the roundabout. This scenario has been modeled by ADOT and the city’s consultant and shows an improvement in level of service. The current project schedule antici­pates construction starting in May 2021.